Southern man
better keep your head
Don't forget
what your good book said
Southern change
gonna come at last
Now your crosses
are burning fast
Southern man
- See Southern Man - Neil Young
And well what do you know... What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?
This is what happened when desegregation and court-ordered school busing made it to Boston.
My my, New Englanders. Don't forget what your good book said!
Southerners began to chuckle. And soon, they grew into their own shoes.
See Forrest Gump - Sweet Home Alabama
And so now history repeats itself. Be careful what you wish for; your wish very well may come true!
- Bill
- WSJ* POLITICS
* JUNE 18, 2010
Border Fight Creeps North
A Proposed Crackdown on Illegal Immigration Divides Nebraska Farm Town
FREMONT, Neb.—A vote Monday brings to a head a two-year battle over immigration that has divided residents here.
The split over a proposed city ordinance to crack down on illegal immigration has spilled over into churches, coffee shops and grocery stores in this agricultural center 35 miles northwest of Omaha—a long way from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Dave Weaver for The Wall Street Journal
Kristin Ostrom (left) and Krista Kjelegaard, members of One Fremont One
Future, take calls from listeners during a morning radio show Thursday.
Public officials in the once-homogeneous city of 25,000 have been asked not to speak on the topic, casting an odd veil of silence over the city. Mayor Donald "Skip" Edwards declined to be interviewed, saying only that "I'm not going to put myself in a difficult spot."
"The mentality and the atmosphere has changed" here, said Michelle Knapp, a resident and vocal opponent of the ordinance, sitting at a quaint Main Street coffee shop. "It's fear."
Fremont's special election follows on the heels of a strict law recently signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer making it a state crime to be in the country illegally.
While immigration has long been the purview of the federal government, states and cities like Fremont are increasingly taking matters into their own hands in the absence of a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration policy.
"If you're having flooding, you're not going to wait for the federal government to sandbag," said Jerry Hart, a resident and lead proponent of the Fremont ordinance.
Since its founding in 1856, Fremont has been almost all white, with many residents of Swedish and German descent. Over the years, big meatpacking companies like Hormel Foods moved to town as the industry was consolidating and being pushed from urban centers to the rural Midwest. In the 1990s, the area's Hispanic population began to grow.
Today, about 1,100 immigrants, including some who lack proper documentation, call Fremont home, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group. Manicured lawns, lilac bushes and restaurants like the Nifty Fifties are now punctuated by Mexican restaurants and tiny tiendas that sell yucca and plantains.
In June 2008, a now-retired city council member proposed an ordinance that would prohibit harboring, hiring or renting to undocumented immigrants. It would give local police more power to inquire into a person's immigration status.
The following month, residents packed the Fremont High School to debate the issue. In a vote the night of the debate, the city council split four-to-four on the proposal. Mayor Edwards cast the tie-breaking vote against the ordinance, saying at the time that he had consulted with the Nebraska attorney general and determined that immigration matters should remain in federal hands.
Disappointed by the outcome, proponents gathered more than 3,000 signatures to put the issue on a ballot for a special election. The city sued in state court, saying the ordinance would be unconstitutional. In April, the Nebraska Supreme Court concluded the measure should be put before voters.
Out-of-state groups have joined the fight. Kris Kobach, an attorney and law professor from Missouri, has been lending legal advice to Fremonters who want the ordinance. Mr. Kobach has also helped other small cities pass similar ordinances, and he helped write the Arizona law.
On the other side, the Nebraska affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union has threatened to sue if the ordinance passes. Opponents warn that passage would lead to costly litigation the city can't afford.
After the city council vote in 2008, tensions escalated. Some started calling Fremont "Frexico" and accused immigrants of bringing gang activity and disease to town, claims that are hotly contested. Alfredo Velez, owner of Tienda Mexicana Guerrero, said somebody shot out his front window with a BB gun.
Backers of the ordinance say it will protect Fremont from becoming a "safe-haven for illegal aliens," according to a flier with an American flag being distributed across town.
Ordinance backer Edward Robinson, a farmer who lives just outside Fremont, said over a plate of enchiladas at a local Mexican restaurant that he applauds Fremont for taking action because the U.S.-Mexico border "is a portal that is so dangerous today."
Other residents, including immigrants, say the proposal would make Fremont one of America's least welcoming towns.
Earlier this week, a group of Fremont residents in a newly formed group, One Fremont One Future, gathered about 200 people in a grassy park to show their opposition to the ordinance.
The Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce recently passed a resolution opposing the proposed ordinance, saying it would impose high costs on businesses that they can ill-afford, "especially in this uncertain economy."
The city said in a fact sheet the ordinance would cost Fremont at least $1 million a year to implement and enforce. The city also said it would likely have to raise taxes and cut jobs to pay for the increases.
"It's the wrong solution," said longtime resident Don Hinds, owner of a commercial investment business in the city. It would be a "tremendous burden on landlords, city officials and the police department."
Write to Lauren Etter at lauren.etter@wsj.com